BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese education
minister said here Tuesday that China will not place profit-gaining capability
as the primary par for education.

At a press conference organized by the State Council Information Office, Minister Zhou Ji said that education is
basically a cause for social benefits.

Governmental encouragement of private investment into
education does not mean gaining economic returns is the priority for
schools,said Zhou, adding that more private funds could alleviate burdens of the
government for financing education.

Meanwhile, China welcomes overseas partners who are
able to provide quality education service to the Chinese.

A newly adopted law stipulates that private schools
are legally equal to their public counterparts.

Statistics show that by the end of 2002, about 61,200
privately-funded schools enrolled more than 11 million students. A total of 712
programs were jointly carried out by Chinese and overseas educators, nine times
that of seven years before.